UHV baseball ousted from AII tournament by Fisher College

The north wind was whipping into Riverside Stadium, but Chad Kruse didn't want to leave the field.

Kruse knew when he walked into the dugout, it would be the last time for the UHV baseball team.

Kruse's career and the Jaguars' season came to an end on a cold Thursday night with a 6-5 loss to Fisher College in the Association of Independent Institutions tournament.

Fisher College (35-17) will play another elimination game Friday at 10 a.m. against LSU-Alexandria. UHV ended the season with a 20-23 record.

"It's tough to call it a career," Kruse said. "We had a good team. I can't say enough about my teammates; they were wonderful. It had to end sooner or later. It's rough that it ends tonight. But I built some long-lasting friendships."

Kruse had two hits in his final game, but the Jaguars managed a total of six and left 11 runners on base.

"It is disappointing," said UHV coach Terry Puhl. "It is anytime you end a season like this. We were competitive throughout the tournament. It was just little execution errors. We bounced back and had a chance to tie the ballgame - we just couldn't get the big hit."

UHV took a 4-1 win over Fisher College in the opening game of the tournament. The Jaguars had beaten the Falcons four straight times this season.

"That's baseball," Kruse said. "You've got to come out and play every day. It doesn't matter who you are playing or how you've done in the past against them. When you get out there, the score starts at zero.

"They've been a good team," he added. "We've fought them hard every time. We haven't blown them out one time - they've been close games. They just ended up on the top end of it tonight."

Fisher College had 10 hits and UHV pitchers issued eight walks. The Jaguars were down by as many as four runs and twice pulled within one but could never get the lead.

"I want to give a shout out to everybody in Victoria," Kruse said. "The Jaguars, Generals, all my coaches, the fans and just the city in general, it's been an amazing transition here the last two years. I couldn't have asked for a better situation."

Cal State San Marcos 7, LSU-Alexandria 2

Hunter Brown limited LSU-Alexandria to six hits in seven innings to lead Cal State San Marcos into the championship game.

The Cougars (34-10) had 10 hits, including two each by Kyle Secciani and Dylan Costello.

Nick Jones and Jay Bell each had two hits for the Generals (37-19), who will play an elimination game Friday at 10 a.m.

Fisher College 13, Ashford 3

Davidson Peguero hit a three-home home run, and Fisher College beat Ashford in an elimination game.

Victor Lebron added three hits and had five RBIs for the Falcons, who took command with a seven-run second inning.

Mike Johnson had two hits, including a double and a RBI to pace Ashford, which finished the season at 23-18.